Carlton AFLW star Tayla Harris one of our most talented sport stars
There's so much more to Tayla Harris than one nasty moment on social media. The Herald Sun's Kim Wilson spoke to the multi-talented athlete about AFLW, her career goals and passion for boxing.
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There's so much more to Tayla Harris than one nasty moment on social media. The Herald Sun's Kim Wilson spoke to the multi-talented athlete last July as she prepared to fight for the Australian middleweight boxing title. Harris will this weekend line up for Carlton in their AFLW final clash against Fremantle.
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One of the AFLW’s most high-profile stars, Tayla Harris has her sights on winning a championship of another kind — the Australian title as a middleweight boxer.
The Carlton forward, famous for her incredible kicking flexibility and toughness on the field, will hit the ring on August 4 in Melbourne for her third professional bout, which she hopes will lead to a fight for the Australian title later this year.
While competitive boxing takes her away from the footy field in the off-season, and is banned by most AFLW clubs because of the potential for injury, the determined competitor is thrilled to have Carlton Football Club’s support.
“Cain Liddle, the CEO, is really behind it and that’s been amazing. I’ve really appreciated them having an open mind with me doing this,” she says.
TAYLA’S CLEAN SLATE AT CARLTON
Harris, 21, who has just shot a global campaign for sporting goods giant Nike, says her passion for boxing began when she was 12, when her dad took her to the local gym.
“He thought it would be good cross-training for footy, so we did it together. It was like our thing,” she says. “I actually loved it. I love the whole mental side of it. None of my fighting is anything with me wanting to hurt anyone or bash anyone.
“It’s so technical, how many punches and steps and ways to get around. I like that part of it. It’s so skilful.”
Harris understands why people may think boxing is violent and a potentially dangerous sport, but she has not suffered any serious injuries yet and believes she is just as likely to get injured on the footy field.
“I’m very confused when people in footy get so worried,” the 2017 All-Australian player says.
While most AFLW contracts stipulate that players are not allowed to box because it’s considered an extreme sport, Harris says they are able to play soccer and basketball.
“I’m like, how is this fair when these girls have a huge risk of hurting their knees and ankles? I understand fighting sounds worse than it is, but for people who have taken the time like Carlton to actually understand, I’m not getting injured and I am getting fitter.”
Harris loves the sense of theatre and crowd participation of a professional boxing bout.
“My favourite part of it is the whole show, that’s why I like professional boxing as opposed to amateur boxing because amateur is like a tournament, you hear your name, you get up, you fight and you get off, ” she says.
“With professional, you can put together your outfit, you can have music, I walk out to Beyonce (Partition), all your friends are there yelling, the crowd is allowed to drink, so it’s a bit wild but fun.
“It’s a show. I’m definitely, for lack of a better word, a performer, but yeah, it’s for the crowd.
“If I win, that’s great and my record builds, but on the night it’s for the fans to watch and I’ll do my best to fight and impress them. That’s what I do.”
Harris has designed her own custom boxing outfit complete with sequins and tassels.
“It’s blue and white for Carlton and it’s got my name across the front of it,” she says.
She has quickly made a name for herself in the boxing world and is drawing a crowd that may not otherwise be interested in the sport.
“I think I’m inadvertently introducing people to women’s boxing because most people follow me through AFLW (she has 25,000 Instagram followers), so they have some interest in women’s sport, and then I suppose me saying, ‘I’m a female boxer, by the way, if you’re interested,” she says.
“It helps to have that market where I can put it out there and be like, ‘If you already follow me for this sport, what about this sport?’ ”
Harris says the hardest part of boxing competitively is getting down to the 72kg required.
“It’s the hardest part. Fighting on the night is easy, it’s the lead-up that’s hard,” she says. “Generally anything that tastes good I can’t eat. It’s the same as footy, pre-season sucks but playing is fun.”
Harris sensationally moved clubs from the Lions to the Blues for the 2018 season after playing her first season in her hometown of Brisbane as one of two marquee players.
Three Carlton players were exchanged for Harris as part of a complex trade that saw rookie Nat Exon and Bella Ayre head to the Lions and the Blues’ No. 1 draft pick Bianca Jakobsson move to Melbourne.
“It was definitely the right move, I settled in straight away,” she says. “Melbourne is such a diverse city, it’s more accepting here.
“I just think it’s so cool, I’ve met people in Melbourne that I just love, my teammates and my host family.”
Harris is close to her parents and grandparents, who still live in Brisbane but travel to Melbourne to watch her box and play footy. She has messages tattooed on both wrists from her parents in their handwriting.
TAYLA HARRIS TWEET SHOWS HOW FAR FOOTY HAS COME
“On one side there’s Mum’s handwriting and the other side is Dad’s. Mum’s says, ‘Love you always’ and the other side is, ‘Always here for you’ from Dad, along with Dad’s birth year and Nan and Pop’s birth year and the same on the other side with Mum,” Harris says. “Your family have your best interests, they’re always there for you, no matter what.”
While her family has always supported her, she has copped flak from fans who were unhappy with her shifting footy clubs.
“Moving clubs, that was savage last year. People are disgusting what they say and what they think is OK to post,” she says.
“There was one incident where this person had commented on a news article, something foul, and Mum had come across it. It upsets her and Dad and that upsets me.
“Mum had seen in his profile picture he had daughters and so she messaged him and said, ‘You need to understand that’s my daughter. I can see you’ve got kids and I need you to know that this gets to the parents’.
“He apologised and I think it’s important to call people out sometimes.”
Harris admits her mum finds it hard to watch her box, but she is still a firm supporter.
“Obviously mothers aren’t going to love me going out fighting people and getting punched in the face, but she’s there, always supporting me in whatever I want to do. It would be hard to watch, I know.”
Harris is still pinching herself that she was the only Aussie signed to a new global campaign for Nike featuring five influential women from around the world.
“Apparently I’m going to be on billboards around the world. It was really cool,” she says of the shoot in Japan. “I got there and there were all these small things happening, like someone was tying my shoes for me and someone else was moisturising my legs and it was just weird, it was next level, it was obviously a global shoot.”
“The other girls were more experienced than I was and they were telling me to do all these things and I eventually got the hang of it, but it was the classic Australian girl who had never done anything like that before.”
“When stuff like that comes up, I think if I hadn’t moved to Melbourne, I would not have been with Nike because they’re with Carlton. I’m so fortunate to have made those decisions to get to this point.”
Harris’ fifth professional bout, against West Australian Sarah Dwyer, finished with a draw but it has not diminished her resolve to win the national title.
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